dslreports logo
 story category
Canadians Downloading Less
Despite new rights, scared away by RIAA
p2pnet reports that downloading in Canada is at its lowest level since 2000. A recent report claims the "hard-line" approach being taken by the American music industry is impacting our neighbors to the north. "Among those who have indicated that they have stopped downloading music files, 21% say on an unaided basis that they stopped because of legal ramifications," the survey claims. "This is almost twice the percentage that site moral concerns (12%), no longer interested in downloading (11%), too busy (11%), too much hassle (10%), prefer a physical compact disc (10%), or frustrated with downloading files of poor quality (10%)," the report notes.
view:
topics flat nest 

mskittykat
Reality Bites...So I'm Back
Premium Member
join:2002-10-17
Upper Marlboro, MD

mskittykat

Premium Member

But in the end..

It's only because basically no longer want to be bothered with trying to deal with the hassels of dowloading, not because of what the RIAA goes on about.

en102
Canadian, eh?
join:2001-01-26
Valencia, CA

en102

Member

Re: But in the end..

I think it's more that all the sites (majority US) have also been taken down by RIAA. Who are you going to share music with, or get it from. The US has 10:1 population advantage over Canada.

drewfar
join:2002-10-01
m4y0a2

drewfar

Member

hahah Yeah right ..

The RIAA can kiss my ass.

fatmanskinny
Premium Member
join:2004-01-04
Wandering

fatmanskinny

Premium Member

Yeah for RIAA!!

RIAA is doing the right thing. However, this will force consumers to do the right thing: Hit them in the pocket by not purchasing the overpriced CDs instead of downloading songs you didn't pay for.

SRFireside
join:2001-01-19
Houston, TX

SRFireside

Member

Re: Yeah for RIAA!!

Force nothing. Consumers have been buying CD's all this time. P2P has hardly put a dent in the music industry. The RIAA is doing the wrong thing because there is no undeniable proof that sharing music without financial gain is actually copyright infringement. Sharing music helps promote artists, especially the ones that aren't getting the red carpet treatment by their own record company.

KeepOnRockin
Music Lover Forever
Premium Member
join:2002-11-08
Beaverton, OR

KeepOnRockin to fatmanskinny

Premium Member

to fatmanskinny
said by fatmanskinny:
RIAA is doing the right thing.

I have never seen such an untrue statement. Well, maybe it's "right" for them.

Based on what I've seen, the RIAA does not have the capability of doing the right thing as long as the bottom line is their only concern.

palbri
Premium Member
join:2000-10-22
Suffield, CT

palbri

Premium Member

Selective Downloading

As long as the courts say I can download, I will continue to download.

However, I rarely buy any new CD's because there is so much garbage out there: they aren't worth buying!

I only download copies of songs I already own, and most of them are on Vinyl: too time consuming and annoying to reformat on my own!!

Duct tape
@sympatico.ca

Duct tape

Anon

Not exactly

The survey was taken before the ruling.

Only adults were involved.

The CRIA does not trust the numbers in the report (go figure, it show a decline ).
BarneyBadAss
Badasses Fight For Freedom
Premium Member
join:2004-05-07
00001

BarneyBadAss

Premium Member

Re: Not exactly



Why doesn't this surprise me??? Hmmmmmmm.....

SRFireside
join:2001-01-19
Houston, TX

SRFireside to Duct tape

Member

to Duct tape
Pretty much my sentiments. I never take into account actual numbers when the word survey is mentioned. Who did they poll? How did they get them? What location did the pollers come from? How can you get a truly accurate reading on an entire country with this?

nivago
Think For Yourself
join:2000-11-16
Little Rock, AR

nivago

Member

Re: Not exactly

if you hadn't slept through elementary statistics, you would know
vlovich
join:2001-12-08

vlovich

Member

Re: Not exactly

said by nivago:
if you hadn't slept through elementary statistics, you would know

My sentiments exactly.
quote:

Pretty much my sentiments. I never take into account actual numbers when the word survey is mentioned. Who did they poll? How did they get them? What location did the pollers come from? How can you get a truly accurate reading on an entire country with this?

[rant]
The whole idea of statistics is that a correct sample size is representative enough of a larger population (which it usually is; ever wonder how election polls are very accurate, at least they are in here in ontario during the provincials). Survey's work on the idea that a sample size large enough and correctly taken will represent an appropriate cross-section of the general population. You do point out some good points that it is important about who they poll (geographically, socially and any other important factors).

However, you can not discount results simply because you hear survey and you think it's wrong; if you look at the actual survey methodology and point out flaws, then ok. But just because you cannot comprehend the math and logic behind it doesn't make it wrong.
[/rant]

SRFireside
join:2001-01-19
Houston, TX

SRFireside

Member

Re: Not exactly

Show me the methodology they used because I can't find it. Most surveys I have read involving P2P over the past few years (both pro and con) are dubious at best. Most likely because you're talking to people who might/might not want to admit their true activities, while in politics everybody is more than happy to make their stance. Also it doesn't fit the numbers because last I checked album sales aren't going up in Canada, which (according to the RIAA's logic) should mean music is still being downloaded at the same rate.

I don't agree with the results because it doesn't make sense with the rest of the facts. Why would people be afraid of the RIAA if it was much publicized that their actions are now legal in Canada? Why would Canadians fear an organization from another country to begin with?


nivago
Think For Yourself
join:2000-11-16
Little Rock, AR

nivago

Member

Re: Not exactly

you are missing the point. if you're skeptical about this survey, that's fine. nothing wrong about questioning the methodology. but there's been enough mathematical work done in probability and statistics to make accurate surveys possible. so to discount anything that has "survey" in it is not smart, to say the least.

SRFireside
join:2001-01-19
Houston, TX

SRFireside

Member

Re: Not exactly

I never said I discount anything with the word survey. I said I don't take into account the actual numbers of a survey. I see the trends they indicate but I don't put a hard line on exactly how much percentage of the population said what. Also I have followed several surveys related to this sort of thing and almost every one of them is skewed to favor a certain result depending on who sponsors or supports (directly or indirectly) the survey.

It's easy to ask the right questions to make sure answers go the way you want them to in order to reflect whatever outcome they were fishing for. I'm not saying that's what they did here, but I have found that sort of thing going on more than once. Maybe what I should have said was I don't take the numbers into account on any survey related to the RIAA's propaganda. That better defines the intent of my statement.
ISPTech
join:2001-04-22

ISPTech

Member

How will the RIAA spin this?

If there is not a corresponding rise in CD sales in Canada, doesn't this pretty much blow the RIAA's entire assumption that downloading affects sales right out of the water?

Or should we just expect that the CRIA will suddenly put out a report saying that sales are now up?

emmpeethree
Twizzling Flagella
Premium Member
join:2001-04-13
Richmond, BC

emmpeethree

Premium Member

Re: How will the RIAA spin this?

i would think its mostly due to the lack of quality/corrupted files that is turning many people off. however, using the right tools and the right clients this can be avoided.

usually only one version of a song has been "tampered" with and the higher bitrate versions are fine.

using kazaa lite + or whatever it's called with a combination of bad ip updater (which is updated before every session) and mp3 shield (again updated before every session) i've decreased the amount of corrupted music considerably. and if i do donwload somethign that has a problem with it, mp3 shield will tell me before its finished downloading so i can cancel it and begin downloading a different version or download it from a different source.

i think most people who jumped on the P2P bandwagon with napster, then kazaa would rather have a 2 step process of clicking kazaa/napster then searching for the music they want.

i guess if a few extra clicks offsets dropping 15 big ones on a large piece of plastic, than people will pay anything for convience.

Dirk Daring
join:2000-08-03
Ashburn, VA

Dirk Daring

Member

They could just be done...

Once youe download everything you want... there isn't much use for P2P anymore, and new music nowadays pretty much sucks.

Mashiki
Balking The Enemy's Plans
join:2002-02-04
Woodstock, ON

Mashiki

Member

Downloading less? Nah...bunk polls.

Remember, all polls in Canada are done like this:

With a select group, with a political reference, with a vague question, done before said major 'court/legal precedent', and when a major celestial body are entering a new house. Specific moon phases will dictate number of pollsters and regions where they'll ask, +/- 3.5%, 19/22 times.

In other words, polls are so useless in Canada it's better to throw darts at a board with a large target and percentile numbers and your going to be more accurate.

m7dt428
join:2004-02-16
West Chester, OH

m7dt428

Member

Re: Downloading less? Nah...bunk polls.

actually about sharing CDs without financial gain is copyright infringement, i donwload CDs but couldnt it be like it is ur financial gains to download because youd be saving money you would use to buy CD's?
Cyron
join:2002-09-24
Charlotte, NC

Cyron

Member

Re: Downloading less? Nah...bunk polls.

If you wouldn't have bought the CD, there's no money saved and no financial gain for yourself. That's the rub. There's no way to prove a download equals a lost sale.

sporkme
drop the crantini and move it, sister
MVM
join:2000-07-01
Morristown, NJ

sporkme to Mashiki

MVM

to Mashiki
said by Mashiki:
Remember, all polls in Canada are done like this:

With a select group, with a political reference, with a vague question, done before said major 'court/legal precedent', and when a major celestial body are entering a new house. Specific moon phases will dictate number of pollsters and regions where they'll ask, +/- 3.5%, 19/22 times.

Somehow I don't think that's unique to Canada.

lazarus_
join:2002-08-31
Resolute, NU

lazarus_ to Mashiki

Member

to Mashiki
I dont care what the polls say. I dont download as much anymore because the novelty has worn out. When I first got broadband (5yrs ago), I was dowloading movies games and music 24/7 just because I could. Thats when I only had a 5GB HDD and was burning MP3 and divx movies to cdr's like nuts. Now that all the new music released is crap and not worth downloading I maybe download 5-6 mp3s a month if that.
And if I ever want a album I use a ftp I have axs too..

I find it funny how the PR people at SOCAN try to spin les downloading = fear of legal action.. lol

Mashiki
Balking The Enemy's Plans
join:2002-02-04
Woodstock, ON

Mashiki

Member

Re: Downloading less? Nah...bunk polls.

Too true man. A lot of the stuff floating around is simply crap, but anytime you get stuff like this the PR genius will turn around and try to spin it...what else can they do right? If it's different, use the half empty/half full argument as best you can...most people do not think beyond what they are told.

insomniac84
join:2002-01-03
Schererville, IN

insomniac84

Member

None of them will buy again

Sure they stopped downloading, but does the RIAA really think that people are going to then buy cds to fuel the fire that they are afraid of?

Spike401
Fox Powered
join:2002-04-27
Labrador

Spike401

Member

Re: None of them will buy again

They think that.

Oh and another thing, more and more people are gonna buy less CDs since they're gonna spend alot more money on Gas now.

- neX -
@aci.on.ca

- neX -

Anon

copyrights in .ca

the key word: AMERICAN.

they dont have any power up here. the copyright laws are different. most canadian users dont realize this. copyright here allows for the copying of content for personal use. you cant sell, charge, or force others to listen/view it. but you can download it.

pleekmo
Triptoe Through The Tulips
Premium Member
join:2001-09-14
Manchester, CT

pleekmo

Premium Member

Tsk. Tsk. Bad Grammar...

A little nitpick: The word should should be spelled "cite" rather than "site" in the headline.